Australia backs US in fight over GM crops

Australia is to join the United States in an attempt to force the European Union to drop its opposition to genetically modified crops.

The Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, yesterday said the appeal to the World Trade Organisation was "critical to Australia and all agricultural exporters".

The Greens Senator Bob Brown slammed the decision, saying it was a "total contradiction given most of the states are considering moratoriums of their own".

"Given the choice the Australian Government would rather support American multinationals than their own farmers and consumers."

Applications for the commercial release of Australia's first genetically modified crop - canola - are soon to be decided by the Commonwealth Gene Technology Regulator.");document.write("

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Raising fears of a full-scale trans-Atlantic trade war, Washington described Europe's ban on GM imports as unscientific and a violation of WTO rules. "People around the world have been eating biotech food for years," Robert Zoellick, America's leading trade negotiator, said.

Two weeks ago Brussels upped the stakes in a separate dispute over tax breaks for some of the largest US exporters. Europe's chief trade negotiator, Pascal Lamy, has given the US until September to change its laws or face a $US4 billion ($6 billion) sanctions bill authorised by the WTO.

EU officials described the latest challenge as "legally unwarranted, economically unfounded and politically unhelpful", and accused the US of bringing the case against Europe to put pressure on other countries which are also introducing curbs on GM imports.

Washington claims the ban has cost its farmers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales, but European consumers are likely to prove resistant even if the restrictions are lifted.

At the centre of the debate is a disagreement over what steps are necessary to protect public health and the environment. The EU is demanding that GM food be labelled as such. It also wants to be able to trace the origins of the food's ingredients. The US says such labels and tracing mechanisms are costly and impractical.